See how she goes with it Paul, it does work for some people and it did work for me for quite a few years. It can take a good few months to feel 'well' so don't expect too much at first. If she still feels not right or has any other symptoms then get her to another doctor and have more tests done, but give it maybe 3 - 4 months on this medication first.

Hope she feels better soon x

Good advice Wendy, it's worked well for me for the last 10 years

I just think that is such bad advice. The doctor does not always know best, and patients should be the most knowledgeable person about their own bodies.

It's not normal to have severely swollen legs. What does your doctor think about this symptom? It can be a sign of many things, not the least of which is heart failure... high sodium.. etc etc. Definitely worth checking out. Are you on "water tablets"? Do you mean prescription diuretics? What were they prescribed for? If the doc has put you on these, you must have an underlying problem.

In summary, need more info to give a sensible answer, but def worth going to another doc for a second opinion.

Thanks for the reply.
I have some water tablets left from when I went to see the doctor in December about swelling up so I have taken the rest of those over the past few weeks on and off. I only use Lo-salt on my food if any and drink about 6 glasses of water a day, don't like tea/coffee. Eating sensibly because of weight watchers, which I eat the points allocated. Going to ring for an appointment now.
J x

Rang to get an appointment - one of the doctors has a day off on fridays so I have to ring tomorrow at 8.30 and if unsuccessful Friday at 8.30........
i won't hold my breath
J x

Don't ever think you're being a pest!

I'm with Wendy. Ditch the numbers doc and get a 'symptoms' doc.

Tried to give you and Nic some K, but have to spread around more
Anyway, hope that Nic is alright, I remember feeling relieved that I wasn't going mad!! Wish her well,
J x

I'm with Wendy... It can work really well for many people and then for others, it stops working over time, but that can be due to a number of factors.

Thyroid damage can take a year or more to recover from but it is possible to feel totally well again.

She'll feel a difference very quickly. Might tell her to write down how she feels on each level of meds so she can keep track of it all.

She'll feel better and then as the body gets used to the meds and levels, her symptoms might come back a little, indicating she needs to up her dose a bit more. Then it will all level out.

I recall in my first week on Thyroxine I lost 7lb of probably water weight and it was such a lovely feeling.

A few months ago my doctor told me that there was a 'slight' problem
with my thyroid (after blood tests for something else). He then said
he would see how it was in 3 months time. When it was done again
he said it was 'borderline'....what does that mean? He said he was happy with that
Just had CT scan to see if there is any reason for this huge weight gain...all well. So I again asked the doctor about my thyroid and he referred to my last blood test.....and said there was 'no problem'
Can anyone tell me just what he means when my last one said 'borderline' and he now says that was normal...please?

Sometimes though too much information can cause more problems than solve others. If you don't have faith in your doctor you find another. If you have a doctor who knows what they're talking about - regardless of illness you trust them. If and when you start feeling slightly worse again, then you should investigate further. If someone is diagnosed today and immediately reads everything going they are going to freak themselves out and possibly cause more problems.

IMO medical education should be a slow long term thing, when things are going well there is little need to look for problems.

Obviously if you have no faith in your doctor and you're not getting better then yes get more info and another doctor.

You shouldn't need to just take diuretics when you need them - generally people need to take them regularly, or not. Sounds like the doc isn't watching you closely enough.

Sometimes you need to drink more water to flush your system, sometimes you need to restrict fluids to ease the swelling. Really totally depends upon the root cause though.

Let us know how you go. I don't think it's go-to-hospital-urgent, but do get it checked out.

I see what you mean. I'm not necessarily talking about questioning your doctor's advice. I'm talking about collaborating to get the desired outcome. Educating the patient is not the same as challenging the doctor's advice.

Hi.
The lab range for the test you had varies but generally it creates a 'normal' range by testing a load of people - say about 100 - who are 'well'. This gives a result for what range the TSH test should fall into.
Sadly some of those people themselves would have undiagnosed thyroid problems, statistically speaking. So this means the range includes people who are not so well. Anyway, that's how they get the 'normal' range.

By the sound of it you had a TSH test and yours came out 'borderline' so it will have been right on the upper end of normal.
The range is usually 0.4 - 4.0 or thereabouts.

This means if your TSH test falls into that range, you're classed as 'normal'. Perhaps your TSH was about 3.8 or something similar... just a guess, ok? You should get the results from your doctor.

However, what is 'normal' for one person is very ill for another person. Generally it's now considered that a TSH over 1 (where it should be) is incorrect and should be treated.

My TSH result went from 6.8 to 7.9 to 4.6 and then at one point to 3.8
My doctor said at the point it was 3.8 that there was nothing wrong with me! No explanation of anything or why it had been so high. He also told me that my antibodies were within range, when in fact, if you've got them then you have Hashi's, end of story. No such thing as 'in range' antibodies.

Your doctor is a numbers doctor, not a symptoms doctor and I suggest you either ask to be referred to a good Endo or you go see another doctor and pay for some good advice. There's a list of recommendations for certain areas of compassionate doctors who are experts in the field. Your doc is most certainly not on this list!

The test you have had sounds like the TSH test. This stands for Thyroid Stimulating Hormone and it's your pituitary gland which is making this stuff to stimulate your thyroid into working. A high TSH therefore means that your thyroid isn't working properly.
There are several things which affect your TSH result... so it's not a great test,,, It's just a vague indicator of a test that something may be wrong. If that's the case, then further investigation is required...
A free T4 and free T3 test, plus T4 etc. It's called a thyroid panel. You'd need liver function and cholesterol checking too, as well as cortisol to check function of your adrenals.
This is why you need a good thyroid doctor not just a GP who's going to brush you off as 'normal' when quite clearly you are suffering.

Hope that helps.

x

Agreed. I just hear stuff about gaining all knowledge about an illness almost before being diagnosed and it makes me wonder if you (general) could cause more health problems by knowing too much if you know what I mean.

If a doctor treats you and you get better, do you still need to read everything available on the subject?